The waste industry is always looking for ways to improve the volumeric efficiency and environmental integrity of waste storage containers while reducing overall costs. The simplest way to improve the volumeric efficiency of a storage container is to compact the waste mechanically inside the container, thereby increasing the density of the waste.
Current designs of front-loading or rear-loading containers can only have their contents compacted by coupling the container to a separate, fixed compaction head. This system has several disadvantages including high spillage and leakage rates during the separation and discharge operations. Furthermore, the compaction head must be permanently fixed to the ground thereby limiting its versatility and requiring the assignment of a permanent designated access area.
Another problem encountered by waste authorities is that in high density applications such as the cities of Europe, Asia and The Middle East the space and access restrictions caused by narrow streets and parked vehicles are such that conventional compactor vehicles cannot get close enough to the waste product to operate efficiently. The current solution to this problem is the use of high numbers of collectors who push hand-carts through the streets manually loading the waste product and returning to a central collection point where they wait for a truck mounted compactor. At this stage the waste product is transferred from the cart to the compactor and the collector resumes the run with his empty cart. Although this system may be acceptable when labour rates were very low, spiralling labour costs demand that an effective alternative be found.